Best Brunch: Savory Garden Greens Goat Cheese Cakes & Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

Hands up for savory breakfasts and keep them up if you feel like a rockstar when restyled leftovers are part of the mix! This dish is all about using up those garden greens you have that might be on their last leg (beet greens, kale, chard, spinach, mustard greens, and so on) and turning them into savory breakfast cakes with fresh herbs and creamy goat cheese. It's the perfect platform for an egg cooked your way--my default is sunny side up these days--and a little roasted red pepper vinaigrette to tie it all together. I used a mix of beet greens and kale--the beet greens gave my savory cakes a nice pinkish hue--along with dill, parsley and chives for my herbs and folded in leftover quinoa. Like veggie burgers, savory cakes are equally delicious with or without grains like couscous, farro, or barley or cooked seeds like quinoa or amaranth, but if you have some already cooked, this is a great way to use up leftovers. 

Today I'm on my way to Atlanta for Re:co--the Specialty Coffee Symposium--and the US Coffee Championships! I'll be helping out with coffee service at Re:co and judging the US Barista Championship. I can't wait! I'm making a little roadtrip of it with stops in Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham, and a pop over to Charleston. I would love to hear your favorite can't miss spots for food and drinks. Find me here on the blog, here or here. Happy weekend, friends! 

Savory Garden Greens Goat Cheese Cakes
Makes 6 cakes
3 tablespoons olive oil or bacon fat, divided
1 cup diced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 large bunch garden greens of choice, chopped, about 10 cups loosely packed
1/2 cup herbs of choice, chopped
2 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 cup leftover quinoa or couscous (optional)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled or cut into pea-sized pieces

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil or bacon fat in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add diced onion, and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt then stir in the garlic and fennel seeds and let cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chopped greens and let them cook down with the heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from heat and stir in the chopped herbs. Let cool, then transfer the mixture to a food processor. Use the food processor to pulse the cooked greens and herbs until they are finely chopped, small enough to help the cakes stay together. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the egg, bread crumbs, quinoa or couscous (if using), smoked paprika, and lemon zest. Mix until well combined, then fold in the goat cheese throughout the mixture.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil or bacon fat in a large skillet over medium heat. Patty out the cakes, about 1/2 cup each, and cook on the hot skillet. Turn after about 5 minutes and cook a remaining 7 minutes on the other side. Lower the heat if needed to keep them from burning. 

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette
Makes 1/2 cup
2 roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup olive oil

Use a food processor or blender to blend together the red peppers, garlic, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, and salt. Stream in the olive oil while the vinaigrette is blending. Serve with the savory cakes, sunny side up eggs and fresh sprouts, herbs, or greens. Store any leftover vinaigrette in a sealed contain in the refrigerator and use within a week. 

Mashed Potato Gnocchi & Carrot Top Pesto

When you're craving anything but turkey and the fixings on the days after the big holiday meal, turn those leftover mashed potatoes into fresh gnocchi.

Sauce the hot gnocchi with your favorite sauce or pesto. If you don't want to make it back out to the store, get creative with browned butter and herbs or a quick pesto. 

I love saucing gnocchi with pesto for the color alone, but also for the freshness and lightness it brings to the dish.

Carrot greens are so often discarded, but they make for a delicious and vibrant pesto--you can also substitute other generally disregarded greens like radish, turnip, or beet greens--just be sure to be generous with the pine nuts and olive oil to soften any astringency. 

Carrot Top Pesto
Makes about 1 cup
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cups packed carrot greens
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup shredded parmesan

Combine garlic, pine nuts, carrot greens, and salt in a food processor. Process on low speed, stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, until the carrot greens reduce down. Return to low speed and stream in the olive oil while it processors. Remove pesto from the food processor and fold in the shredded parmesan cheese.  

Mashed Potato Gnocchi
Serves 4
2 eggs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
dash of nutmeg
1 cup cold mashed potatoes
4 ounces semolina flour (about 1 cup) plus 1/4 cup for dusting and rolling out the gnocchi
2 tablespoons unsalted butter,divided
1 cup carrot top pesto

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust it with flour. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in medium-sized mixing bowl. Fold in the cold mashed potatoes, lightly stirring until well combined, then gently fold in the semolina flour using a rubber spatula or your hands. Replace the dough to a flour-dusted work surface, dust hands with extra flour and gently knead the dough by hand until a smooth, but sticky, ball forms. Divide the dough into four pieces. 

Use your hands to roll the first piece of dough into a rope, about 1/2 inch-thick. Keep the work surface dusted with flour, adding more as needed. Use a pastry cutter or a sharp knife to cut the rope into 1/2-inch pieces. I learned recently that each piece is called gnocco. Gently roll each gnocco downward against the back of a fork to give it ridges or indentations. Replace to the baking sheet and repeat with remaining gnocco. 

Repeat this step with the other three pieces of dough, rolling into ropes, cutting the ropes into gnocco, and rolling each against a fork.

Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, drop in the gnocchi and cook until they begin to rise to the surface, about 1-2 minutes. Remove each as they come to the surface using a slotted spoon, then set them in a colander until the remaining gnocchi have cooked. 

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the gnocchi and cook until lightly browned on each side. Remove from the skillet and repeat with the remaining butter and gnocchi. Combine the hot gnocchi and carrot top pesto (or sauce of your choice) in a medium mixing bowl. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese. 

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

In The Art of Eating M. F. K. Fisher talks about the potato as a "gastronomic complement." Potatoes are the familiar and affordable sidekick, but their undeniable comfort and delicious versatility keep us coming back.  Thinking of the potato as a complement will "rob it of its dangerous monotony, and clothe it with the changing mysterious garment of adaptability," she writes.

Mashed potatoes decorate my family's table every Thanksgiving and frequently throughout the year. While I love the endless variations that even mashed potatoes offer, often I find my way back this familiar favorite, a combination of roasted garlic, butter, heavy cream, and fresh chives. 

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Serves 6-8
2 heads garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Clean any dirt off the garlic heads and remove extra layers of skin, careful not to break apart the heads. Cut the top end off each garlic head, about 1/4 inch worth, just enough to expose the tips of the cloves. It's okay if the outer cloves do not get cut. Place the garlic heads on a piece of foil and drizzle the olive oil over their exposed tops. Wrap the foil around the the heads, place on a baking sheet, and roasted until the garlic is soft, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Pop the roasted garlic cloves out of the skins and mash them into a paste with a fork, then set aside. 

Meanwhile, add the potatoes to a large stock pot of salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the potatoes are tender and easily pierced through with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain and return to a large mixing bowl.  

In a small saucepan combine the butter, cream, 1 tablespoon of the chopped chives, salt, and mashed garlic over medium high heat. Cook until the butter is melter. Pour onto the potatoes and combine with a potato masher until the potatoes are smooth. Top with the remaining chopped chives before serving. 

Pecan Pie Bourbon Milk Punch

I won't ask you to hold off on eating that last slice of pecan pie, but if for some wild reason you end up with an overload of leftovers, shake up a batch or two of Pecan Pie Bourbon Milk Punch cocktails.

Milk punch is a cocktail made with a spirit (traditionally bourbon or brandy), milk, sugar, and vanilla. This recipe calls for bourbon (I used Bulleit Bourbon), whole milk steeped in a slice of pecan pie, maple syrup, and orange blossom water. Steeping a piece of leftover pecan pie in cold milk brings in a new dimension of fall flavors, with vibrant echoes of maple syrup, caramelized pecans, and warm autumn spices in every sip. Coupled with the soft thrill of orange blossom water and the fragrance of fresh nutmeg, this cocktail is so enthralling you might just decide to bake an entire pie for the cause.

First, the pie. I fell in love with Merrill Strubb's Spiced Maple Pecan Pie even before I had the chance to taste it. A quick glance at the ingredients list and instructions and I was hooked. Maple syrup completely replaces corn syrup and is infused with whole star anise. I adapted her beautiful recipe to use bourbon instead of dark rum and include additional autumn spices, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. 

Pecan Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
adapted from Merrill Strubb's Spiced Maple Pecan Pie with Star Anise 
1 pie crust, store-bought or homemade (homemade recipe below)
1 1/4 cups maple syrup
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 whole star anise
3 whole cloves
1 whole nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick, about 5-inches, broken into 3 pieces
1 vanilla pod, ends removed, sliced open and cut into 3 pieces
2 1/2 cups pecan halves
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring maple syrup, sugar, star anise, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla to a boil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Once it begins to boil immediately reduce heat to a low simmer. Resist the temptation to stir the mixture as that can cause the sugars to crystalize, rather let the mixture reduce and thicken for 20 minutes, or until it has reduced to about 1 1/4 cups. Remove from heat, but let sit for at least an hour to let the star anise, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla continue to infuse.

Meanwhile, prepare the pie crust using the homemade crust recipe below or your favorite crust recipe. If using a store bought crust, unroll the crust onto a pie plate, centering evenly, then decoratively crimp the edges and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (substitute with dried beans if no pie weights are available, but dispose of the beans thereafter). Bake the crust on a baking sheet until the edges begin to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, and remove the pie weights. 

Toast the pecans at 325 degrees Fahrenheit, spread out evenly on a baking sheet, for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

Remove the whole spices from the maple syrup and discard them (or stir them in a hot toddy, it is the holidays after all). 

Mix together the thickened maple syrup, eggs, melted butter, bourbon, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Fold in the pecans, pour into the pie crust, place on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, or until the pie is sturdy and the crust is a deep golden brown. 

Pie Crust
Makes 1 crust
4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups flour (6 ounces weighed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces ice water

Cut the butter into small pieces then set it in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes. Combine flour and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or your hands. Crumble the butter into the flour until any remaining pieces are the size of small peas. The flour will look more like cornmeal or polenta at this point. Add 2 ounces of ice water. Combine with a spatula until a dough forms. Add more ice water as needed, one tablespoon at a time. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and set chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle, until it is about 1/4 inch thick and large enough to drape over a 9-inch pie plate with about half an inch hanging over the sides. Decoratively crimp the edges and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (substitute with dried beans if no pie weights are available, but dispose of the beans thereafter). Bake the crust on a baking sheet until the edges begin to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, and remove the pie weights. 

Pecan Pie Bourbon Milk Punch
Serves 2
3 ounces bourbon
2 ounces pecan pie milk*
1 ounce maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon orange blossom water
orange peel and nutmeg, for garnish

Combine bourbon, pecan pie milk, maple syrup, and orange blossom water in a cocktail shaker. Add a scoop of ice and shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Stain into coupe glasses. Rub the rim of the glasses with the orange peel, garnish, and top with grated nutmeg.

*Pecan Pie Milk
Makes 1 cup
1 cup cold whole milk
1 slice of pecan pie

Place the pecan pie in a bowl or cup and pour the milk over it. Break up the pie with a spoon, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the solids. Use the pecan pie milk immediately or refrigerate for 1-2 days.